nothing uplifts the human spirit like understanding certain truths about this amazing world in which we live

I made this card for a friend of the family that shares a love for the larger cats....

cheetahs are cool indeed...

one can loose one's self in lettering

It was designed for a personal tee shirt. It sure is a beautifully frustrating hobby....letters! It is like drawing a face, it either works or it stinks. You can tweak it and tweak it and tweak it. It never seems done. It never really feels perfect.

tarpon sign for pine island, florida... i love old barn wood

I have been unable to confirm or deny my neighbor's claim that the boards I have used on my tarpon signs are old silo boards. Either way, they are relatively light weight and awesome. The roughness can't be faked. They are just plain OLD! At 1 3/4 inches thick, they can stand alone and command attention. The boards don't need some rectangular or oval base to show off their dimension. 

I am running low on the boards and once these last few are gone, I believe I may never find anything like them again. This is why I have taken great care on the shape of the tarpon and placement of all the blemishes. I did multiple experiments on my scraps to achieve the right balance of color to natural wood. I also ran the boards horizontally to achieve more of a true sign look that one might find fifty or sixty years ago when driving through old Matlacha and Pine Island.

I previously did a large wooden tarpon out of the same material for my brother's large wall space, Capt. Gregg McKee of WildFly Charters. 

My hope is that this can find a home in the terrific spot of Pine Island, Fl. With nearby islands like Sanibel and it's amazing beaches close by, Pine Island struggles to get recognized by some visitors to S.W. Florida as an awesome place to vacation and/or live year round.

At 73" wide and 28" high, it would look great in a living room or large entrance way. Poolside might be cool as well. I don't plan on shipping it, but I will be trucking it to Florida next summer along with some painted furniture by my wife Ashley.

She has a new blog as well: ashcan works. Check it out!!!!